You Are What You Eat - 40 Things I've Learned in 40 Years

I try to eat a balanced, healthy diet each day (except for my self-confessed sweet-tooth cravings), but more from a perspective of moderation. I don't cut out huge swaths of food types or try to stay on a strict regimented diet. For an acknowledged foodie like me, that doesn't work. Neither is it fun. I believe my diet should be sensible and work with my lifestyle as well.

But a friend of mine gave me a new and insightful perspective on my eating habits. He said, "Make sure everything that goes into your body benefits it in some way." In other words, if it isn't helping your body in some way, that is extra work you're giving your body and you'll pay for it later. In this school of thought, your diet is not based on calorie counts or low-carbs, or whatever the current fad is, but on the nutritional value of what you're eating. Is it helping you live longer, live better, sleep better, run faster or have better sex? If it isn't doing anything positive for your body, take a second look at it.

Thankfully, I have kept my waist size fairly stable so far: (it's grown 3 inches since I was 16, and no, I'm not telling you what my waist size is, thank you very much!) My weight, on the other hand, has jumped about 20 lbs. as my body changed from the skinny teenager I was, to the more man-like size I am today. I have noticed my metabolism slow down, but I've tried to keep it up with exercise and activity. Call me vain, but even though I am in the 'normal' range for my weight and height, I liked my body better when it was 5 lbs. lighter...

Every few months, I do a 'refrigerator and pantry audit' to assess what kinds of foods I have and also to purge myself of negative net-value food that I might have stealthily introduced over time (yes, I do that too). This also gives me the opportunity to stock up on more positive net-value foods. You might want to do that too...

You are what you eat...hmmm...so what am I? Food for thought...